Office of Facilities Planning
Newsletter #53 – July 2004

Ed Smith joined our group on June 17, 2004. He now lives in Wilton, NY with
his wife Heidi and children Kate and Greg, several fish and a hermit crab.

He graduated from Roger Williams College in Rhode Island in 1982. He is a PE
and a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH). His experience includes private
consulting engineering and civil service work.

He is a long suffering (except for 1986) Met fan and a long time Dallas
Cowboy fan. In his spare time he enjoys reading, model railroading and fishing.
In addition, he is busy shuttling the kids to baseball, soccer and Tae Kwon Do.
Currently, Ed and his family are busy getting settled in their recently built
house.

Suspected Terrorist Activity:

Is everyone aware of the proper methods for reporting
suspicious activity? There was an incident at a BOCES where a suspicious
individual made specific inquiries about courses that could be used for
terrorist activity. This type of incident should be reported to the NY State
Police. Residents of NY State should dial, toll-free 1-866-SAFENYS
(1-866-723-3697), the statewide hotline. New York City residents should dial
1-888-NYCSAFE (1-888-692-7233). We suggest that the staff of every school
district and BOCES be made aware of these telephone numbers. We would also
appreciate an e-mail message be sent to Laura Sahr
lsahr@mail.nysed.gov.
In addition to Health and Safety, Laura is the SED Emergency Coordinator.

Let the State Police decide if and how these incidents should
be investigated.

Mercury Banned in Schools:

Governor Pataki has signed a new law (effective 1-1-05)
banning the sale of toys and novelties containing mercury. This same law
regulates the use of mercury in primary and secondary schools (effective
9-4-04).

Existing mercury-added equipment or products, including
thermometers, thermostats, switches, medical or scientific instruments,
electrical relays, and lamps and batteries, which are presently in use, may
remain. Replacement of existing items is necessary only if they break down or
fail. There is no need to replace existing mercury products if they are in good
working order and not in need of replacement. The law bans mercury in its
elemental form. We recommend Elemental Mercury stored in containers in science
rooms be disposed. Additionally, Mercury used in open equipment, such as
manometers, should be evaluated for disposal as recommended by DEC on their
website at http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/ppu/pgnar.html. If
and when schools dispose of mercury-added products, disposal must be done
through separated delivery to a DEC permitted solid waste management facility or
authorized hazardous waste facility.

The disruption and lost time associated with viruses and spam
carried by E-mail is an increasing problem. A part of the Education Department's
efforts to stem this problem is the use of GWAVA. GWAVA is an Anti-Virus agent
and Anti-Spam filtering package designed for use with GroupWise, the SED e-mail
system

Persons sending e-mail to Facilities Planning staff should be
aware that certain e-mail will not get through. GWAVA has been configured to
block e-mail messages with the following attachment extensions and will not
allow these messages to be received by the recipient:

The Federal Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA),
40 CFR 763.85(b), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) require all
public and nonpublic elementary and secondary schools to re-inspect
previously identified asbestos-containing building materials (ACBM) in all
facilities every three years. This pertains to all buildings that are owned,
leased, or otherwise used as a school building. The actual 2004 AHERA triennial
re-inspection process should have been completed no later than July 9, 2004.

In conjunction with the AHERA triennial re-inspection cycle,
New York State public schools must submit an asbestos reporting form to
the Commissioner of Education on a triennial basis (§3602-a of Chapter 53 of the
Laws of 1990). The 2004 AHERA triennial re-inspection reporting process to the
State Education Department will be done electronically - independent of other
reporting processes. The reporting format will largely consist of "YES/NO"
questions. While prior re-inspection reports were due in the October following
the re-inspection process, the exact reporting date for 2004 has not yet been
determined.

If your school district has not completed a triennial
re-inspection, please contact your local BOCES Health and Safety Coordinator or
Laura Sahr at
lsahr@mail.nysed.gov or 518-474-3906.